- Past Experiences -

Internship at Auto-Owners Insurance

At Auto-Owners, I had the opportunity to gain experience with a large variety of different types of projects: I spent a significant amount of time creating Generalized Linear Models for use in setting customer prices; I worked on several exploratory data analysis projects that culminated in my creating and presenting reports on the findings; I performed a data pull for specific data from the company's extensive network of databases; and I got to explore the viability of using machine-learning algorithms to streamline workflow both internally and for customers.

One of my key goals prior to starting this internship was improving my ability to effectively and concisely report results. However, I soon found that I needed to know more than just the information I was reporting on. More and more I found myself asking the same questions: "Who is reading this report?"; "What decisions will they be making based on it?"; "How would those decisions be implemented?"; and so on. This taught me the importance of understanding my employer's common workflows, internal decision-making processes, and overall corporate goals as guidelines for how best to communicate the results of my work. I feel that the improvement to my reporting and communication skills - driven by my experiences with performing analyses and creating reports - was the most important skill I developed during my internship. Knowing how to tailor a report to its audience and its applications is vital for the type of data science work I hope to find a career in; If I lack the ability to effectively convey the implications of my analyses, than it won't matter whether my work reveals useful findings or not. 



Ross Net Impact: Sustainable Systems Project Leader

As a project manager for Net Impact, a student organization working to promote positive environmental and social change in the Ann Arbor community, I have accrued valuable experience working as a team leader and representative. Our project was to implement a volunteer composting and green values program in all on-campus food retailers (i.e. University-owned cafes, convenience stores, etc.). As project manager and team representative, I learned how to take an idea from concept to reality as part of a team, including how to manage the schedules, ideas, and personalities of the various team members to keep our team members engaged and motivated and to ensure our project continued moving forward within our timeline. Furthermore, my efforts in developing action plans collaboratively with the University Dining Department and several other sustainability-focused student-organizations taught me to effectively present ideas to and coordinate with the third-party stakeholders. To date, we have seen a 30% increase in post-consumer composting in locations targeted by our project, and our informational program materials are now standard in all on-campus food retailers.